(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of arrangements in rotorcraft concerning mechanisms for assembling a rotary drive source together with a piece of equipment in rotary engagement with said drive source. The drive source is provided in particular with a drive shaft that is to be in rotary engagement with a shaft of the piece of equipment.
(2) Description of Related Art
The rotary drive source comprises a power plant having at least one engine, such as a turbine engine that also contributes to providing the rotorcraft with support and possibly also propulsion.
By way of example, the piece of equipment may be a reversible electrical machine, and more particularly an alternator-starter.
By way of example, another piece of equipment may be cooling apparatus, a fluid circulation radiator or the like. By way of example, another piece of equipment may be a gearbox forming a secondary drive source for driving an accessory of the rotorcraft, and constituting secondary equipment that is driven by a main gearbox.
Other applications of the assembly mechanism are possible, such as interposing an assembly mechanism between a drive source formed by a main gearbox of a power plant and a piece of equipment formed by an accessory of the rotorcraft.
The main power plant in a rotorcraft is housed in compartments formed on a frame of the rotorcraft, where such a frame is sometimes referred to as a “transmission support platform”.
A rotorcraft may be fitted with a single power plant, but it is potentially fitted with two power plants. Under such circumstances, the power plants are housed in respective compartments arranged side by side.
It is commonly desired to limit the size of the two compartments on the rotorcraft in order to reduce their volume. The space available around the power plant installed inside such a compartment is restricted at best. This makes it difficult to access the various members making up the power plant, thus making maintenance operations difficult.